As Retailers Cut Back Cities Confront ghostboxes

BISMARCK, N.D. – Hundreds of anxious shoppers watched as city officials used power saws to cut 2-by-4s during Home Depot Inc.’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for its 102,700-square-foot building center in Bismarck. Less than three years later, the home improvement retailer shuttered the underperforming store, leaving a big orange empty eyesore on the outskirts of town. The building, sitting derelict and silent on acres of asphalt, is now listed for sale at 10.5 million. But there’s been little interes